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Education and optometry
Education and optometry have worked together for years. One example is the work of Daryl Boyd Harman, a scientist who was part of the Texas school system. Through cooperation with optometry, he brought many improvements to the learning environments of children. He switched the chalkboards from the high contrast black with white chalk to the green with yellow chalk that is gentler on the eyes. He blended the artificial lighting with the natural sunlight from the windows |
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He did amazing work relating posture with vision as well as learning. Obviously the posture of this little girl at a school desk is not the best.
He emphasized the appropriate desk sizes to children’s sizes and even coordinated classroom colors. Note the different sized kids but the same sized desks. The short kids have to focus their eyes for desk work up to 6 times more than the tall kids.
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We borrowed a vision therapy procedure called bi-manual circles at the chalk board (today a white board) from a teacher in the 1800's. |
An educator, Dr. George Spache, studied the reading skills of those who were taught reading before the age of six and those after. He found that the early readers were better readers than the late readers by the fourth grade. However, by high school, when it really counts, the late readers were better. Unfortunately, the US did not follow this advice, but Scandinavian countries did. They do not teach reading until age six. Today, the Scandinavian countries are way ahead of the US in education, and within the US, CA is near the bottom. What is it about the age of six? Directionality and laterality skills are not developed until the age of six. You are teaching the concept that "b" equals "d" in early reading. You can't "unlearn"; you have to "overlearn" when directionality is gained. The same is true for vision processing skills. They are not fully developed until age six. Remember, vision processing is the primary vision skill that relates to learning. Look at what the US has done with Head Start, Early Childhood education, and pre-kindergarten. One recent President even pushed for reading at three.
Dr. Walter B. Lancaster at Dartmouth College is noted for proving eye muscles are 50 to 100 times stronger than necessary to move the eyes. That questioned surgery for crossed eyes leading to non-invasive treatment.
In the 30's, Dr. Walter B. Lancaster studied school vision screening and found that the best students had the worst visual acuities. Unfortunately, the majority of the eye professionals ignored his work. Yet, those who recognized the value of his work began investigating vision and learning. It was the emergence of developmental optometry.
Developmental optometrists have relied on teacher observation for decades to identify children who may have a visually related learning problem. Many districts don’t emphasize this section of the school eye screening law. They miss observations that could make a world of difference to many children. This past week, two children received our help thanks to the close attention of two teachers. CA is near the last of the 50 states in education. You would think they would want all the help they can get and not ignore teacher observation.
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Teachers are required under section "e" of the above-mentioned state school vision screening law to notice such behavior. To the right are students showing observations that teachers should be trained to see. What do you think can be done? We have some answers, and some are simple. |
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1. DON'T RELY ON SCHOOL VISION SCREENING. It only finds a child already needing glasses; and is not a vision examination, that if done earlier may have prevented the problem. All too often, the minimal screening gives you, the teacher, school nurse, school counselor, eye doctor, and pediatrician misleading information that delays your child’s vision care. It leads to the believe that passing the school vision screening means vision is not related the child's learning difficulty. Thus, vision treatment is delayed often for years until a vision exam by a developmental optometrist finds the vision condition significantly contributing to the learning difficulty.
- 2. Keep track of your child’s grades. Grades of C (2 in the numbering system) and below indicate a potential problem. Remember that at least 80% of learning takes place through vision. Current thinking suggests over 90%.
3. Go to 7 steps to protect your children's vision from the rigors of the classroom found within this Teacher / Parent, but under 7 steps to protect your children's vision from the rigors of the classroom. Just click the link above
4. The Optometric Extension Program compiled a list of observations either parents or school teachers can review. Go to How can I tell if my student or child has a visually related learning problem? It is found in How to ID a Visually Related Learning Problem.
Can any eye doctor detect visually related learning problems?
Recently, Sally’s* mom was relieved to find an answer to Sally’s school problems. It almost didn’t happen, but for my assistant who listens to moms. Sally’s teacher insisted she be seen by an ophthalmologist, not an optometrist (a violation of school policy). Mom, wanting the best for her daughter, listened to the advice and brought her to Dr. Jones*.
When mom brought Dr. Jones’ prescription to our office to be filled, she related Sally’s school problems. Dr. Jones said nothing about Sally’s school problems, the reason for her visit. The mom reported the quickie exam after a long time in the waiting room. He didn’t even test her at close vision, where most learning takes place, and left Sally with dilated eyes. Our wide-angle lens viewer made dilation unnecessary. He missed her reduced side vision, eye-teaming problem, and difficulty with vision processing. All three explain a large percentage of her school struggles. On top of that, Dr. Jones' eyeglasses prescription would have made Sally struggle more.
Although insurance rules restricted my testing, I found the problems Dr. Jones missed. After obtaining the appropriate glasses and conducting further tests to identify conditions interfering with Sally’s school work, we will discuss additional treatment options. We also sent classroom hints to her teacher.
Recently, Sally’s* mom was relieved to find an answer to Sally’s school problems. It almost didn’t happen, but for my assistant who listens to moms. Sally’s teacher insisted she be seen by an ophthalmologist, not an optometrist (a violation of school policy). Mom, wanting the best for her daughter, listened to the advice and brought her to Dr. Jones*.
When mom brought Dr. Jones’ prescription to our office to be filled, she related Sally’s school problems. Dr. Jones said nothing about Sally’s school problems, the reason for her visit. The mom reported the quickie exam after a long time in the waiting room. He didn’t even test her at close vision, where most learning takes place, and left Sally with dilated eyes. Our wide-angle lens viewer made dilation unnecessary. He missed her reduced side vision, eye-teaming problem, and difficulty with vision processing. All three explain a large percentage of her school struggles. On top of that, Dr. Jones' eyeglasses prescription would have made Sally struggle more.
Although insurance rules restricted my testing, I found the problems Dr. Jones missed. After obtaining the appropriate glasses and conducting further tests to identify conditions interfering with Sally’s school work, we will discuss additional treatment options. We also sent classroom hints to her teacher.
With trying to make ends meet and health care confusion, parents do not need added pressure from misinformed teachers. My dedicated front desk assistant got insurance coverage for Sally. Otherwise, Mom would have faced an extra exam payment on top of the wasted time with Dr. Jones. Her academics now have a chance of improvement. With Dr. Jones’ treatment, Sally would have continued with her visually related learning difficulty and the accompanying low self-esteem. How many school district resources would have been wasted if one significant factor of her learning difficulty had not been found?
*names changed to preserve privacy
*names changed to preserve privacy